Kilika Christopher Saenz

Kilika Christopher Saenz started air drumming to NOFX and Pennywise at age 13. A year later, he progressed to the use of a real drum set when his mother brought home a Tama Swing Star 5 piece for him. From there, he began drumming to the tunes of Green Day and Blink 182 and became infatuated with Blink 182 drummer, Travis Barker.

Kilika’s parents did not allow drumming while they were at home, so he frequently ditched school to practice his drumming in private. He played his first show in his grandmother’s back yard with in 2002.

In 2004 he was lucky enough to meet drummer Derek Black, from South Of Shaw & White Flag Waving, who mentored Kilika and helped him further refine his drumming techniques and skills. Later in 2006, he joined a post-punk band named All Things Departed with his close friend Steven Torres. As Kilika’s taste for music changed, he decided it was time to leave the post-punk band to persue a new genre of music.

In 2009, Kilika joined the break-out band called Trinity Sunday (TS), a melodic metalcore band from Reedley, Ca. Once joined up with TS, the band rapidly excelled, playing sold-out shows up and down California. The metalcore band also put out one album titled “The Message Continues”.

In 2010, Kilika decided to put his 8-year drumming career on hold to join the Army as a combat medic. However, the time away from drumming took an emotional toll. Three years of drums remaining untouched and the absence of a creative musical outlet, resulted in Kilika lapsing into a deep depression. The massive void in his life as a result of not drumming, left Kilika feeling lost, as if he had no goals to reach for or pull him through each week.

All that changed one late December night when he was contacted by lead singer Christopher Hudiburgh with an offer to return to stage as the drummer for Mercy Fist (MF). Kilika could not resist the up-tempo rock and high energy music from MF; the next week Kilika was in the studio auditioning, After 3 months of working in the studio, Kilika is now the newest Member of Mercy Fist.